


Past Lives and Pork Buns

by nochick_fics



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Saiyuki
Genre: Crossover, F/M, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 23:12:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7865191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nochick_fics/pseuds/nochick_fics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hakkai meets two mysterious brothers who remind him of happier times during another life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Past Lives and Pork Buns

**Author's Note:**

> For sexkitten426, who requested Ed/Al in the Saiyuki-verse. Originally posted to LiveJournal on 1/12/14.

Hakkai could hardly claim that the inn was the finest he and the others had encountered during their journey, yet it was not nearly as rundown as some of the previous hovels they had come across. And since _anything_ was preferable to sleeping with one eye open--literally, in Hakkai’s case--in the middle of a youkai-infested forest, they all knew well to keep their complaints to themselves, considering the alternative.  
  
Sanzo splurged and paid for two rooms with two beds each. There would be no gambling to determine who would be the lucky one to sleep in a single room’s single bed this time around. Not that Hakkai usually worried about such things since he was the one who always won the honor. While he normally roomed with Sanzo in these situations, he broke from tradition and offered to stay with Goku so that Gojyo could smoke to his heart’s content without hearing about the supposed lack of oxygen that somehow managed not to have any direct effect on Goku’s ability to talk non-stop. (And subsequently being shot at by a surly priest.)  
  
After checking in and leaving Hakuryuu curled up on his pillow to rest, Hakkai joined the others in the dining area and mentally prepared himself for the endless apologizing that usually came with feeding Goku in a public place. They settled into a corner table, far away from the handful of other guests presently partaking of their evening meal. Hakkai and Sanzo chose to start off with sake, as did Gojyo, who asked for his with a side order of the lovely attendant who had the misfortune of taking their order. And Goku, being Goku, asked for everything on the menu.  
  
“Um... well…” The young woman grinned nervously, though it was not immediately clear if it was due to Goku’s request or the way that Gojyo was practically drooling all over her. “That may take some time,” she explained. “Another guest was also… uh... _very hungry_... and we had to send the cook out for more food.”  
  
“But I’m hungry, too!” Goku whined.  
  
“There’s a newsflash,” Gojyo muttered.  
  
“Shut up, Gojyo!”  
  
“Make me.”  
  
“ _Both of you_ need to shut the hell up before I kill you,” Sanzo growled.  
  
“Sake is fine for now, please,” Hakkai told the woman, hoping that his politeness would offset the potential riot threatening to erupt at their table.  
  
She scurried away to fetch their drinks. Gojyo offered his personal commentary on her backside, which caused Goku to call him a pervert, which caused Gojyo to call him a monkey, which caused Sanzo to swear that he was going to shoot the next person who spoke.  
  
The silence lasted all of one full minute. Long enough for Goku to spot the guest with the equally ravenous appetite and brazenly take him to task for eating all the food that the inn had to offer.  As if he had not planned on doing the exact same thing.  
  
“Hey! You!”  
  
“Goku, wait!” By the time Hakkai got the words out, Goku was already halfway to the stranger’s table.  
  
“Here we go.” Gojyo lit a cigarette and sat back in his seat. “Told you he needs a damn leash.”  
  
Being ever the peacemaker, Hakkai left the table before he had a chance to hear Sanzo’s reply. Unfortunately, he was too late; by the time he reached Goku, the teen was engaged in a comically fierce tug-of-war with another teenager in a red coat for what was apparently the last pork bun in existence, judging by the way they were acting.  
  
“Goku, let go,” Hakkai ordered.  
  
“But I asked for it nicely!” Goku insisted.  
  
“Yeah, and I said _no_ nicely,” the stranger shot back.  
  
“You told me to go fuck myself!”  
  
Since Gojyo was too busy smoking and Sanzo was too busy ignoring the ruckus, Hakkai knew that it was on him to get the situation under control before his companion caused even more of a scene. Just as he was contemplating whether or not he should resort to force, _another_ young man arrived and gaped in horror at Goku’s new friend.  
  
“Brother! What are you doing?!”  
  
“Stay out of it, Al.”  
  
The young man, Al, shook his head. “You’ve eaten about twenty of those things,” he said. “Do you really need that one?”  
  
“I was going to save it for later,” the blond teen replied.  
  
“For goodness sake. Now I can’t even go to the bathroom without you starting a fight.” Al gently placed his hand on his brother's arm. “Let him have it, Brother. Please.”  
  
“... Fine.”  
  
The teen let go of the pork bun, which sent Goku falling backwards and crashing into Hakkai’s chest.  
  
“Now, Goku,” Hakkai began. “What do you say?”  
  
Through a mouthful of pork bun, Goku reluctantly mumbled, “Thanks.”  
  
He returned to their table--where Sanzo greeted him with the butt of his revolver--and left Hakkai alone with the two siblings.  
  
“Thank you,” the youkai said, grateful that the crisis was averted. “When he’s hungry, he can get a little…”  
  
“Fucking rude?” the blond offered.  
  
“Cut it out,” Al said, nudging him in the side. He turned to Hakkai and smiled sweetly. “It’s okay. This one’s the same way.”  
  
“Hey!”  
  
“I’m Alphonse,” Al said, ignoring his offended sibling and offering a hand to Hakkai. “And this is my brother, Ed.”  
  
“Hello, Alphonse.” Hakkai shook the teen’s hand before turning his attention to his brother. “Hello…”  
  
He had been too preoccupied with preventing all out war to notice Ed’s eyes before. They were a rich, golden color, not unlike Goku’s.  
  
And indicative of a heretic.  
  
Was it actually possible that this boy was a heretic, too? It would certainly go a long way to justify some of their obvious similarities: their golden eyes, their appetites, their stubbornness, and their height. Or lack thereof.  
  
“... Ed,” he concluded after what he hoped was not a substantial pause. “My name is Hakkai.”  
  
“Nice to meetcha,” Ed grumbled, taking his hand.  
  
Hakkai could sense right away that Ed’s hand was not flesh and bone. It felt harder, stronger, and cool to the touch, even through a layer of glove. Almost as if it was made out of some sort of metal. Such a revelation only fueled his curiosity, but of course he would never be so bold as to question the scowling youngster. Not only would it have been impolite to do so, but Hakkai had the feeling that he would only receive a series of four-letter words in response.  
  
After Ed sat back down to sulk, Hakkai and Al exchanged embarrassed smiles, momentarily unified in their struggle of dealing with a difficult person in their lives.  
  
“Ow! Damn it, Sanzo! Gojyo started it!”  
  
Or _three_ difficult persons, in Hakkai’s case.  
  
He glanced over his shoulder, cringed at what he saw, and wondered if Goku would make it through the evening alive.  
  
“I should get back over there,” he said, moving away from Al. “It was nice meeting you, though I do apologize for the circumstances.”  
  
“Don’t worry about it. Nice meeting you, too.”  
  
Hakkai excused himself and returned to his table just in time to stop Sanzo from firing a warning shot into the ceiling. With peace finally restored--for now--he sat down with a gusting sigh and helped himself to some sake, then glanced towards the table where Al and Ed were sitting. He found it almost cute, the way that Al was scolding Ed for his behavior. Hakkai had a feeling that it was not the first time he had done so, nor would it be the last.  
  
Then something happened that caused Hakkai’s real eye to grow wide in astonishment.  
  
Ed… smiled.  
  
It was not just the smile itself, although that was plenty shocking enough considering the attitude he had just minutes before. But it was the _way_ that he smiled at his brother, all warm and tender and affectionate. Hakkai knew that expression. He knew it all too well. It was the expression of one who loved their kin, perhaps a little bit too much.  
  
Just like Hakkai, in another long ago life.  
  
Memories of Kanan, which were never too far away to begin with, bombarded his mind. His beautiful, sweet, precious Kanan. His sister. His lover. His life. Hakkai closed his eyes and took a sip of his drink, pushing his thoughts back into the darkness where they belonged. Now was not the time to dwell on them.  
  
And for all he knew, he could have been wrong about what he thought he was seeing between Al and Ed. Maybe the desires of his subconscious were manifesting in bizarre ways, causing him to see things that were not there. Maybe…  
  
“Yo, ‘Kai. Are you okay?” Gojyo asked quietly so as not to alert the others, watching him carefully through a cloud of smoke.  
  
Hakkai looked at his friend and smiled that eerily serene smile, the one that sometimes accentuated his madness instead of concealing it.  
  
“I’m fine, Gojyo,” he insisted.  
  
Yes, he was fine. Everything was fine. It had to be. Kanan was dead. As was Cho Gonou. Dwelling on lost lives and loves would not change a thing.  
  
And so Hakkai continued downing sake until the food finally came. He made it a point not to look in the direction of the two boys again and afterwards, he retired to his room, secure in the knowledge that he would not have to see them again.  
  
Until he did.  
  
*****  
  
Just before sunrise, while Goku was sprawled out and snoring loudly, dead to the world, Hakkai smuggled a yawning white dragon under his tunic and crept outside. It was better for Hakuryuu to transform now in the semi-darkness instead of during the light of day when someone might have witnessed the act. After fondly petting the Jeep’s hood, Hakkai started to walk back inside until his sharp ears caught the sound of… a handclap?  
  
What in the world?  
  
He eased towards the rear of the inn and heard it again. A single handclap.  
  
And then he heard voices. Low voices. Ones that sounded awfully familiar.  
  
“Brother, we’ve been trying for an hour now. I told you that it wasn’t going to work.”  
  
“What the hell are we doing wrong, Al?”  
  
“I don’t know. But we’ll figure it out.”  
  
_“Damn it.”_  
  
“Hey. Come here.”  
  
By the time it occurred to Hakkai that he heard all he needed to hear, he had already rounded the corner.  
  
And froze.  
  
He did not know which he found more surprising: the large, intricately designed circle that was carved into the dirt or the way that Al’s arms circled around Ed’s back in a possessive embrace, holding him closely.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Hakkai had no idea that the word even slipped out of his mouth until he saw the look of dread on Al’s face. Although the brothers physically separated, they remained beside each other, a gesture that spoke volumes to Hakkai. They would never flaunt their relationship. However, and most importantly, they would never deny it if confronted, either.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Hakkai said. “I wasn’t trying to be nosy. I just heard clapping and wanted to make sure nothing strange was happening.”  
  
For reasons that Hakkai could not understand, his statement made them laugh.  
  
“Well,” Al began. “It’s…”  
  
“... a long story,” Ed finished.  
  
Hakkai glanced at Ed and saw that his theory was correct. The young man’s right hand was made of metal. Hakkai was equally perplexed and fascinated.  
  
“I’m sure it is.” He had no doubt whatsoever that the story behind those two was a long and complicated tale. “I… I should get back inside.”  
  
Without waiting for a reply, Hakkai spun around and made his way towards the front of the inn. He could sense the pair behind him, having clearly opted to do the same.  
  
“Hey, Al. Was that Jeep here when we came outside?”  
  
Hakkai chuckled as he entered the inn. Al and Ed were not the only ones who had secrets.  
  
*****  
  
A few hours later, Hakkai pulled the Jeep around to the front of the inn and waited for Sanzo, Gojyo, and Goku to join him. He had a long day of driving ahead of him and was hoping to get an early start to cover as much distance as possible.  
  
“Um… Hakkai?”  
  
As Al and Ed slowly approached the vehicle, Hakkai noticed that Ed was carrying a small travel bag. “Good morning. You’re leaving, too?”  
  
“Yeah,” Al replied.  
  
“Our great Journey to the East,” Ed added sarcastically.  
  
“The East?” Once again, Hakkai was intrigued. “Are you going somewhere in particular?”  
  
“We’re just trying to find our way home,” Al said softly. “Anyway… about… you know… what you saw…”  
  
Hakkai could think of quite a few things about the brothers that warranted an explanation. Except the one thing that he knew Al was going to try to explain.  
  
The one thing that he actually understood most of all.  
  
“You don’t need to say anything, Alphonse.” Mental images of Kanan floated by, of all the happiness they shared, tragically short though it was. “Sometimes love… just happens… where you least expect.”  
  
Before he could elaborate, Goku came bursting out of the inn carrying a gigantic bag of pork buns.  
  
“Hakkai! Look!” he screamed proudly.  
  
Goku slowed down when he spotted Ed by the Jeep, and as he started walking towards him, Hakkai wondered if a repeat of the previous evening’s events was about to occur.  
  
Proving him wrong, Goku pulled a pork bun out of the bag and offered it to Ed.  
  
“I owe you one,” he said.  
  
Ed narrowed his eyes, as if trying to determine Goku’s true motive. When he concluded that the teen really was just being nice, he took the bun and muttered his gratitude.  
  
“Mark your calendars, everybody. Goku just shared food with someone else,” Gojyo proclaimed loudly as he and Sanzo crossed over to the passenger side of the Jeep and got inside.  
  
“Bite me, Gojyo,” Goku grunted.  
  
“Sorry, kid. That’s a privilege strictly reserved for the ladies.”  
  
Hakkai could only shrug in excuse for his friend’s inappropriate comment. He supposed that he ought to be thankful, though. This was _good behavior_ for Gojyo.  
  
“Well, then.” He looked upon the young lovers one last time. “Alphonse. Ed. Good luck on your journey.”  
  
“Sounds like you might need it more than we do,” Al said, grinning.  
  
After tossing Ed another pork bun for the road, Goku climbed in behind Hakkai, who gave the brothers a parting wave before leaving. He steered the Jeep onto the long and winding road heading West and leaned back against the seat, settling himself in for the drive ahead.  
  
“That boy had golden eyes,” Sanzo remarked sometime later, as Gojyo and Goku bickered from the backseat.  
  
“Yes, he did,” Hakkai agreed, keeping his eyes on the road. He should have known that such a thing would not go unnoticed.  
  
“Hn.” Sanzo lit a cigarette and said no more.  
  
As the day stretched on, Hakkai found himself entertaining the plethora of questions that he still had regarding Al and Ed. Who were they? Where were they from? Was Ed a heretic? Why was his hand (and possibly arm) made of metal? What was the deal with the clapping? What was that peculiar circle drawn in the dirt?  
  
Would their paths ever cross again?  
  
The answer to all of those questions was up in the air. For now, all Hakkai could do was wonder.  
  
And wish them well.


End file.
